Chuck Crow, The Plain DealerNorm Edwards of the Black Contractors Group, shown above in a 2005 file photo, was involved in an altercation Friday after a meeting with medical mart project leaders.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Tempers flared after a meeting Friday with contractors interested in work on the medical mart and convention center complex.

Police responded to the Ohio Theatre after hearing of a morning tussle between Norm Edwards of the Black Contractors Group and Gus Hoyas of the Hispanic Roundtable.

The fight ended with Hoyas claiming a swollen ankle, Edwards claiming a fuzzy memory and some attendees marveling at a fresh hole in one of the Euclid Avenue theater's walls.

Edwards and Hoyas agree on the events that led to the confrontation. Edwards, an activist whose outbursts in the name of minority inclusion earned him a ban last year from Cuyahoga County commissioner meetings, raised diversity concerns during Friday's gathering. Hoyas countered with optimism and told project leaders that Edwards did not speak for all minorities.

PD fileGus Hoyas

What happened next depends on whom you ask.

Hoyas, former chairman of the Ohio Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, said he was leaving the meeting when Edwards cornered him and questioned whether he was a "true minority."

Hoyas said he was "about to hit the guy," thought better of it and walked away.

Edwards then began running after him, Hoyas said. "He grabbed me and threw me up against a wall," added Hoyas, who noted Edwards' much larger build.

In Edwards' version, Hoyas and two others came after him.

Asked if the altercation was physical, Edwards replied: "I don't know what you would construe as physical. I was trying to elude ... him." Asked if he threw Hoyas into the wall, Edwards said, "I really don't remember what happened," then referred questions to his lawyer.

Edwards' lawyer did not return a phone call. Police arrived after Edwards left, Hoyas said. No one was arrested. Hoyas, who said he hurt his ankle, plans to press charges against Edwards.

Dave Johnson, a spokesman for medical mart developer MMPI, said he did not see the fight but heard Edwards shouting. Johnson also said he saw the hole left in the wall.

"It's unfortunate there would be a disruption," Johnson said. "From our standpoint, the important thing for us as a company is that we're hosting meetings where people feel safe."

Edwards is known for organizing protests of publicly funded construction projects that he feels do not employ enough minorities. He was barred from county meetings in May 2009 after commissioners accused him of intimidating an administrator and using offensive language.

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